Rome, the Eternal City, marks its 2770 birth anniversary

April 24, 2017

Rome, the Eternal City, has been celebrating its 2770 in the anniversary of its funding. Every year, the birth of Rome is celebrated in the Capital of Italy with a series of events involving the entire city.

The official birthday of one of the most admired cities in the world is fixed on April, 21 - but the events usually last until April 23: it’s the “Natale di Roma”, an annual birth celebration based on the legendary foundation of the city by Romulus, in 753 BC.

The center of the celebrations is the Circus Maximus, with the classic trench-digging ritual (“Tracciato del Solco”) recalling the funding of ancient Roman towns when a trench of mundus was dug - at the same times, offerings were thrown in it in the hope the gods would watch over the citizens.

Of course, the foundation of Rome is embroiled in myths and legends: two brothers, Romulus and Remus, started to fight over the new name to give their newly-funded city. In order to settle the argument, Romulus killed his brother and named the city after himself.

Today, the Ancient City is home to almost 3 millions of people - with a total of almost 4,5 millions residing in its Municipality: it may not sound such a huge city - which in fact, it pretty much is - but Rome was for centuries Europe’s largest city, at least until London took its crown in the 19th century.

And yet, even today, the Eternal City is the most photographed city in Europe and the second most photographed in the world, after the Big Apple, New York. Also, Rome includes more parks, gardens and green spaces than almost any other European city: they extend on a surface of almost 1300 square kilometers.

A curiosity: do you know what the letters SPQR, that you can admire all over Rome’s monuments and buildings, mean? They stand for the Latin phrase “Senatus Populusque Romanus”: “The Senate and People of Rome”.

Happy Birthday, Roma!

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